Khary Payton Loves Working With Melissa McBride On 'The Walking Dead'
Of all of the friendships in all of The Walking Dead, none are more exciting to watch right now [...]
Of all of the friendships in all of The Walking Dead, none are more exciting to watch right now than Ezekiel and Carol. The duo couldn't be any more different from one another, and that's what makes them work well together.
Well, that and the real-life bond that's forming between co-stars Khary Payton and Melissa McBride.
During ComicBook.com's recent visit to the set of The Walking Dead, Payton was asked about working with McBride. The outspoken actor was quick to sing the praises of his new scene partner.
"She's like a gift. She's like a raw nerve," Payton said of his co-star. "Not just as an actress, but also as someone on set who the conversation helps you do your job better. I get a better understanding of my character talking to her."
To explain where he was coming from with that comment, Payton told the story of filming the popular scene with Ezekiel and Carol in the garden. He revealed that, while his character brought the heart in that scene, it was McBride who really orchestrated the magic.
"When I had auditioned the first time it was a much less intimate scene. It was like we were talking, standing from across a few feet of each other, and so it was a very different feel," Payton explained.
"The character Carol was kind of being a ball buster and giving Ezekiel a lot of crap about that way he was acting," Payton continued. "In the audition, I took it as, 'You know what? You don't know everything you think you know.' Then he breaks character to prove it to her. That wasn't going to work in that moment. I told her, 'I haven't found this yet.' It's the most important moment where the reason why I transition, why I say and let her in on this secret of mine is the most important moment in that show. She looked at me and said, 'You're not feeling my pain.' And it changed everything about that scene for me because instead of feeling like, 'You're this wise ass that I'm going to teach a lesson to,' it was, 'You've got your walls up and I've got to give you something to put those walls down.'"
We're sure to see a lot more from Carol and Ezekiel when The Walking Dead returns this fall.
The Walking Dead's sibling series Fear the Walking Dead airs Sunday nights at 9 pm ET on AMC. The Walking Dead will return for its eighth season on October 22, 2017. The Season Eight premiere will mark 100 episodes overall for the popular AMC series. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.
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